JUPITER -- Big innings has usually been what spells doom for Tom Koehler.
The Marlins' fifth-starter ran into another one of those big innings Tuesday against the Red Sox, giving up all four hits and four earned runs of his six-inning start in the third against Boston. Outside of that, he was stellar, tossing five hitless, scoreless innings and that's the positive he took out of his start.
"We've talked about that before it's something that has to be limited," Koehler said. "If you let them score one or two it gives you an opportunity to come back and some runs up on the board. Anytime they put up three or four runs in one inning it makes it tough.
Other than that, he said, "I felt good today. I pitched a little more game like with the sequences. Things felt good. Obviously just got myself in trouble throwing the ball away and some hard hit balls there. But overall, it's a step in a positive direction."
The Marlins came back to beat the Red Sox with an eight-run eighth inning with the starters for both teams out of the game. Jordany Valdespin hit the go-ahead, two-run triple for the Marlins, who also took advantage of a Red Sox error in that ugly eighth.
Koehler threw 80 pitches, walked two and struckout five and said he felt strong. His ERA is now 5.14 this spring.
"The previous times out there I was just overcooking [the breaking ball] a little bit, trying to throw one for a strike in a two-strike situation, trying to make it too nasty," he said. "Your head wants to do one thing but physically you're not there yet. That's why they call it midseason form. So, I had to dial it back a little bit and focus on the execution of the pitch. The stuff is there right now. It's executing it. Overall, I think I did a much better job of it."
Manager Mike Redmond saw progress.
"He had that one inning where he gave up four runs, but it was nice to see him settle in and put up some zeroes," he said. "Really, I thought his last couple innings were really good. That was Tommy Koehler. He got himself down in the zone. That's what you're looking for, see guys make adjustments and make in-game adjustments. I think he was able to do that after giving up a couple runs. He settled in and pitched like he's capable of pitching.
"You always want things to go smooth and for guys to build up their innings. Unfortunately it doesn't always work like that. We're working through a tough turn in the rotation. These guys still have two more shots before we leave here. I'm looking for them to make adjustments, get some outs and put up some zeroes."
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